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Saudi Housing Ministry Launches Kingdom’s First Metaverse Platform

The NHC has developed the new service using latest technologies and keeping pace with global trends. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The NHC has developed the new service using latest technologies and keeping pace with global trends. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Housing Ministry Launches Kingdom’s First Metaverse Platform

The NHC has developed the new service using latest technologies and keeping pace with global trends. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The NHC has developed the new service using latest technologies and keeping pace with global trends. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing announced the launching of Sakani Metaverse, the first platform of its kind in the Kingdom, in a step that aims at exploiting the interactive technology to raise the quality of life.

The announcement came during the ministry’s participation in the LEAP 2023 conference, which concluded in Riyadh on Thursday.

Eng. Rayan bin Abdullah Al-Aql, head of Individual Solution Sector at National Housing Company (NHC), said that Sakani Metaverse would expand the services provided to the beneficiaries, and improve their experience.

The platform will allow real estate buyers to view the properties through the Metaverse, without the need to conduct field visits.

The NHC has developed the new service using latest technologies and keeping pace with global trends.

Al-Aql noted that Sakani Metaverse is an interactive technology that would help in raising the level of quality of life, by showing the beneficiaries the various housing options, and providing new horizons for cooperation and investment with partners from real estate developers and brokers.

The second edition of LEAP - the largest technological conference of its kind in the world - was held this year in Riyadh under the slogan, “Towards New Horizons”.

More than 700 experts, scientists and specialized companies from around the world discussed the latest developments in virtual reality, creative economy, edutech, retail, Fourth Industrial Revolution, future energy, smart cities, fintech, and healthtech.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing signed agreements to improve urban planning services and develop infrastructure in cities, during its participation in an exhibition held on the sidelines of LEAP 2023.

The agreements aim to strengthen governance and exchange experiences between the government and private sectors, which will reflect positively on the urban landscape and raise the quality of life of residents.

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China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Beijing on Friday increased its tariffs on US imports to 125%, hitting back against US President Donald Trump's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145% and raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.
Meanwhile, the turmoil unleashed by Trump's tariffs showed few signs of easing on Friday, with markets tumbling and foreign leaders puzzling how to respond to the biggest disruption to the world trade order in decades.
A brief reprieve for battered stocks seen after Trump decided to pause duties for dozens of countries for 90 days quickly dissipated, as attention returned to his escalating trade war with China that has fueled global recession fears, Reuters reported.
Global stocks fell, the dollar slid and a sell-off in US government bonds picked up pace on Friday, reigniting fears of fragility in the world's biggest bond market. Gold, a safe haven for investors in times of crisis, scaled a record high.
"Recession risk is much, much higher now than it was a couple weeks ago," said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to assuage sceptics by telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday that more than 75 countries wanted to start trade negotiations. Trump himself expressed hope of a deal with China, the world's No.2 economy.
But the uncertainty in the meantime extended some of the most volatile trading since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian indices mostly followed Wall Street lower on Friday. In Europe, China's latest tariff hike sent stocks lower, leaving the STOXX 600 down more than 1% on the day and set for another drop this week, one of its most volatile on record.
Bessent shrugged off the renewed market turmoil on Thursday and said striking deals with other countries would bring certainty.
The US and Vietnam have agreed to begin formal trade talks, the White House said. The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory in the hope of avoiding tariffs, Reuters exclusively reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, meanwhile, has set up a trade task force that hopes to visit Washington next week.
As Trump suddenly paused his 'reciprocal' tariffs on other countries hours after they came into effect earlier this week, he ratcheted up duties on Chinese imports as punishment for Beijing's initial move to retaliate.
He has now imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods of 145% since taking office, a White House official said.
China hit back with new tariffs on Friday.
"The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion," China's finance ministry said in a statement.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he thought the United States could make a deal with China and said he respected Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"In a true sense he's been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries," he said.

Xi, in his first public remarks on Trump's tariffs, told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a meeting in Beijing on Friday that China and the European Union should "jointly oppose unilateral acts of bullying," China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
"There are no winners in a trade war," the Chinese leader told his guest, adding that by acting together, the world's second-largest economy and the 27-strong European trade bloc could help uphold "the global rules-based order."